OUR VIEW: Now that Cooper Green has made drastic move to rein in spending, Jefferson County Commission should pay the hospital's past-due bills

Cooper Green Mercy Hospital officials have done what Jefferson County commissioners asked them to do as a requirement for the county paying the hospital's $3.6 million in past-due bills: Propose a cost-cutting plan to wean the hospital off the county's general fund.

The hospital responded with a plan to slash $6.7 million in spending, including laying off 89 employees and closing Cooper Green's oncology and OB/GYN departments. Those were tough, bold and painful moves, but as hospital CEO Dr. Sandral Hullett noted, the hospital has to do what it must to survive.

"I'm trying to do what I need to do because I really want to save the hospital," Hullett said last week. "I want the patients to have good care."

Which makes the County Commission's foot-dragging on paying the hospital's past-due invoices from vendors disappointing. The hospital is finally stepping up to the plate and making difficult cuts. Commissioners, having asked for it, need to take the less difficult task of paying the vendors who have provided services to the hospital and should be paid for those services.

Last week, however, commissioners failed on a 2-2 vote to transfer $3.6 million to the hospital to pay the bills. The most disappointing action was that of Commission President David Carrington, who abstained. This was despite the fact Carrington voted just the week before in a committee meeting to pay the bills.

"I just didn't feel like everybody was at a place that we can disagree without being disagreeable," Carrington said, trying to explain why he abstained. "Sometimes in life the best thing to do is take a step back or, as I say, 'sleep on it.'"

And sometimes, the best thing to do is to do what needs to be done. In this case, it was voting to pay the people the hospital owes money to, even if it might be politically unpopular.

Fortunately, Carrington said the issue will come up again at the commission's meeting next week. Commissioners need to approve paying the bills at the meeting, or sooner if a special meeting is called before then.

In addition to Carrington needing to vote to pay the bills, the two commissioners who voted no, Joe Knight and Jimmie Stephens, need to reconsider their no votes.

Knight said he didn't vote to pay the bills because he didn't have a breakdown of who was owed. He should make sure he gets whatever information he needs to make an informed vote before the next meeting.

Stephens said he wants to see more accountability on purchases and other expenditures from the hospital. That's something County Manager Tony Petelos, his staff and the hospital need to continue to work out. But it shouldn't stop Stephens from voting to pay past-due bills.

Remember, we are talking about expenses that have already been incurred -- not new ones.

Stephens also said the hospital needs to live within the money it gets from the county's indigent care fund and not rely on the county's dwindling general fund. Going forward, that's true. But, again, we are talking about past bills, not what the hospital will spend in the future.

The hospital owes the money, but it can't pay without the county's help and the commission's OK. It's not fair to the vendors who provided the services to get stiffed. Plus, some of them provide goods or services to other county departments and have refused to continue providing those services to those departments because they haven't been paid for the hospital bills.

Of course, the bigger concern for Cooper Green is the role it will play in the future in caring for poor and uninsured county residents. Some commissioners and members of the Alabama Legislature want the county out of the hospital business. Revamping indigent health care has been entangled with legislation to replace the county's occupational tax, which was struck down by courts last year.

Despite Hullett's best efforts, Cooper Green might not survive as a full-service hospital. But it doesn't mean good health care for those in need in the county won't survive.